Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been talking about his latest musical project - a stab at Eurovision glory for Armenia.

Handsworth-born Iommi, 65, has penned the music for the number Lonely Planet, which will be sung by the group, Dorians.

The Armenian outfit has come up with its own English-language lyrics for the entry, which was selected by the nation at the weekend to compete in the semi- finals in May.

For Iommi, who is in the midst of recording a new Sabbath album, the project allows him to continue his love affair with Armenia.

Armenia

He was involved in Rock Aid Armenia, which raised funds and awareness following the earthquake which devastated the country in December 1988. In 2011 he teamed up with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan to raise money to build a music school in the Gyumri region.

They recorded two songs, Out Of My Mind and Holy Water, with proceeds from sales going towards the building project.

Iommi and Gillan also received an Order Of Honour for Rock Aid Armenia’s charity single, Smoke On The Water.

The legendary axeman said on his website: “Well, here’s something different, one of my demo ideas has been chosen as the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest!

“It went on a short-list and Saturday night was voted as the winner. I did the music and the performing band Dorians wrote the lyrics. It’s called Lonely Planet.

“They’re a good band, the singer has a really good voice and the lyrics they’ve written are in English. It now goes to the semi-final on May 16 in Malmo, Sweden.

“Glad to be able to be involved with Armenia again. The school is coming along fine, they’ve got the furniture sorted and it will be opened late summer.”

The rock legend, 65, has avoided the usual production-line methods of high-camp songwriting that tend to bring victory in the contest.

Iommi was last year diagnosed with lymphoma but vowed to press on with plans for the new Black Sabbath album 13, after linking up again with fellow founder members Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler.

The recording, the first by the original group since 1978, will be released in June.